(ChemotherapyAdvisor) – Cancer immunoediting of a mutation expressed in highly immunogenic sarcomas derived from immunodeficient mice occurs via a T-cell-dependent process, a study published in Nature online February 8 has found.

The sarcomas phenotypically resemble nascent primary tumor cells. The process promotes outgrowth of preexisting tumor cell clones that lack the highly antigenic mutant spectrin-β2 as well as other potential antigens.

These results “demonstrate that the strong immunogenicity of an unedited tumor can be ascribed to expression of highly antigenic mutant proteins,” wrote Robert Schreiber, PhD, of the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, and colleagues. They initially identified 3,743 genetic mutations in tumor cells.

One of the promises of genomic sequencing is that, when combined with cancer immunoediting, a vaccine may be developed that could target six or seven mutated proteins.

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